Review: Break Out by Nina Croft

Title: Break Out (Blood Hunter #1)
Author: Nina Croft
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Space Opera
Heat Index: 4 out of 5
Release Date: July 5th, 2011
Word/Page Count: 140 pages
Format: Purchased

Irreverent. Irresponsible. Insatiable. Who says immortals can't have any fun?

The year is 3048, Earth is no longer habitable, and man has fled to the stars where they’ve discovered the secret of immortality—Meridian. Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they’re called, rule the universe.

Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can’t resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective’s maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!

Arai's Review:

I received a copy of Deadly Pursuit by Nina Croft the other day, which I was very excited about. Unfortunately, it’s the second book in a series and I hadn’t read the first one. Needless to say, I quickly tracked down a copy ($0.99 on Amazon Kindle right now) and tore into it. I’m really happy I did, too.

The book opens to introduce us to Rico, our male lead who also happens to be a vampire, and his crew aboard the spaceship El Cazador. Rico came on a little too strong for me in the beginning. He was a little too debonair Casanova, especially with heavy-handed innuendo that was constantly littered throughout the first couple of chapters, but he grows on you.

Tannis, the captain of Rico’s ship, brings forth not only the job that introduces us to the female lead, but she also adds the opportunity for some good one-liners and a great expansion on the universe. Tannis, along with another member of the crew, is a human hybrid. It was never mentioned what Tannis was mixed with but Daisy, the other crew member, is a plant hybrid. I liked this concept and wish it would have been explored/explained beyond how it changes the appearance of a character but, hopefully, the next book will take this concept and run with it.

Skylar Rossario is an undercover agent who comes to the crew of the El Cazador with a challenge; break into the high-security prison to release an assassin before he’s sent to work at the poisonous mines. Sidenote, these mines contain a radioactive mineral called Meridian that allows for immortality. It’s a nice little twist, one that definitely plays big in this universe.

We’re purposely put on the trial of suspicion with Skylar immediately which works for me because I like a little bit of intrigue. However, much as with Rico, Skylar came off a bit strong right away in the first couple of pages. Unlike Rico, I didn’t warm to her quite as much despite this, even by the end of the novel. During her first scene interacting with the crew of El Cazador and Rico, I kept hoping for her comeuppance. I like strong female characters, but there was just something about her attitude that put me off.

Rico takes the job on the condition that, as a bonus, there’ll be smexy biting times. To be honest, this is one of my least favorite plot ploys/developments. I prefer good old-fashioned seduction versus bartering for smut.

The author still builds the tension between the Skylar and Rico and manages to get in a few smutty scenes before the big bonus showdown at the end, so that does make this plot development a little easier to go along with. The only thing is, I was so enthralled with the universe that I was almost rushing through the smut scenes just to get back to the action. Fortunate for me, the next book is twice as long which, hopefully, promises twice as much action.

On an end note, one of my friends happened to ask me what I was currently reading when I was in the middle of this book. I told her the name and then informed her that it was about a vampire named Rico who was a space pirate. She paused, seemed to think about this, almost as if she didn’t believe me, then said, “That’s freaking awesome.” It’s now in her TBR pile because, in addition to being a good read, how many times in your life can you say you’re reading a book about a vampire who’s a pirate in space?